


Club Raven

by thesquidliesthuman



Series: Club Raven [1]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King, It - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-07 23:47:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15230709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesquidliesthuman/pseuds/thesquidliesthuman
Summary: Mike’s warm, polite smile that he had been wearing grew slightly with her answer, “what if I told you-you could have the boyfriend experience, with absolutely no strings attached? For a small fee, of course.”In which I attempt to write an IT host club AU.





	1. All Good Stories Have Beginnings

It was a chilly evening in mid-October, as a young woman with hair the color of the autumn leaves and eyes the hue of an iced green walked down the city streets. The streets were quiet, compared to the bustling of the morning, but there were still a few cars driving through here and there.

The woman wasn’t sure when exactly she started taking these late night walks, but somehow, she almost found them comforting. Despite the dangers held for a woman walking alone at night, especially in the city, it was somewhat calming to see the city asleep after hours. It was a nice break for a college student like herself, constantly swimming in projects and deadlines and other things of that sort. 

While on one of these walks, that October evening, the woman spotted one place that still seemed to be awake. The building had no sign, but the lights streaming out of the building showed that there were most certainly people inside. 

Knowing the city, and the types of places open at this hour, she thought it best to ignore the lights and the building and the possibility of what it could be until she saw an example of what the people inside were like.

As she happened to walk by, a young man, or woman, she couldn’t really tell, with mocha brown eyes and dark brown, extremely curly hair walked out of the building. Their arm was linked with a slightly taller, sort of lanky man, with eyes the same color as the person who was standing next to him with a bright smile on his face and hair the same style but jet black instead of the warm brown that was atop the other person’s head.

The person kept their smile as the raven-haired man bent down and kissed their left hand, then looking up at them with a charming expression. The person covered their mouth with their other hand, seemingly to hide laughter, before the taller of the two, stood up and walked back inside.

The brown haired one stayed outside, watching as the door closed before beginning to head in the woman’s direction. The woman seemed startled by this and pretended that she wasn’t watching him with the other man before, continuing to walk before accidentally bumping into this mystery person.

The person stood slightly taller than the woman, at roughly 5’10”, pulling a hand from the pocket of his black leather jacket to shake her hand, “sorry about that. I’m Alex, nice to meet you.”

The woman hardly expected the person to talk to her, let alone introduce themselves. She took the person’s hand for a quick handshake, “it’s quite alright. Beverly Marsh, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Beverly gave the stranger, Alex, a polite smile before pulling her hand away.

Alex chuckled, a small grin forming on their lips, “oh, we’re playing the full name game? In that case, Alexander Hatfield, it was great doing business with you.” He, or at least Beverly had assumed them to be a he as his name was Alexander, then began to walk away with a small salute.

Beverly didn’t know why, but something compelled her to ask about the place he had recently exited. “Hey,” she began, “about that place you came from, what is it exactly?”

Alex turned around, the small grin morphing into a small smirk. “Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to talk about it. However, I’m sure you’ll hear about it soon.” He finished his statement with a wink and another salute, then walking off into the night. Leaving a slightly confused Beverly as she watched him leave for a moment before walking back to her apartment.

—

A couple weeks later, now early November, Bev was walking down that street again. This time, she was returning from a class of hers. With her cherry colored backpack slung over her right shoulder, she held it in place with her right hand as she strolled down the street.

The walk mostly consisted of listening to the bustling traffic of the city, watching the cars go by. That is until she was approached by a dark-skinned man with short, black hair and near-matching deep brown eyes.

“Hello, you’re Ms. Marsh, correct?” The man asked once he had gotten her attention, panting slightly as if he had run up to her.

Beverly nodded, “that’s correct. Who’s asking?” She asked, slightly raising a ginger, well-groomed eyebrow as she wondered how the man knew exactly who she was. 

“I’m Michael Hanlon, my friends just call me Mike, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said with a charming smile, “I was told you might have some interest in attending our little club?”

Beverly kept her eyebrow quirked, not really sure how to respond to the question. “Um, your club?” She decided that responding to Mike’s question with a question of her own was the best way to handle the situation.

Mike nodded, handing her a small black card with silver cursive printing that seemed to glow in the midday sun, “yes, our club. Tell me, Ms. Marsh, do you happen to have a boyfriend? Girlfriend? Partner?” He asked his question smoothly as if he had done this before.

Beverly paused a moment, deciding whether or not to answer the honestly quite personal question, “no, I don’t. What’s it to you?” She answered with a straight face, brushing a loose lock of hair behind her left ear.

Mike’s warm, polite smile that he had been wearing grew slightly with her answer, “what if I told you-you could have the boyfriend experience, with absolutely no strings attached? For a small fee, of course.”

Beverly took another moment to respond, thinking, “what do you mean? Is this what you do at that club of yours?” To Beverly, this certainly sounded like an interesting sort of ‘club’. She had never heard of a club quite like this before.

“Miss, I am from what we call a ‘host club’. We work to entertain young ladies such as yourself and provide them comfort among the hustle and bustle of everyday life,” Mike explained, still wearing his smile, “we have drinks, charming men like myself,” he paused, flashing Beverly a wink before continuing, “and a relaxing atmosphere. All you need to do is show up, pick a host, and pay the price.”

“Isn’t that like prostitution?” Beverly asked, looking down at the intricately detailed card in her hand. The card itself read information about the club, such as the name, Club Raven, and address of the establishment. 

Mike chuckled a bit at her response, covering his mouth with his hand for a moment before returning it to his side, “no, there is nothing sexual about any of this. While you can participate in those kinds of activities with the hosts that’s between you and him on his own time.”

Beverly nodded, finally seeming to understand it. She looked at the card again before looking back at Mike, “you know what? I think I’ll give it a shot.”

Mike kept his smile, “wonderful! I hope to see you again, Ms. Marsh.” He took Beverly’s free hand, the other still holding her bag to her shoulder, and lightly kissed it. Just as she had seen the dark-haired man do to Alex the night before.

Beverly smiled, the both of them bidding each other goodbye before heading their separate ways. Beverly stuck the card into her backpack as she walked away and made sure to attend the club later that evening.


	2. Anemone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You see, Bill, I come from a place we call Club Raven. There we take care of pretty boys like yourself and help them to relax. We give them a drink and an ear and help them forget about their cares for a while.”

Bill sat in a circle with his friends, Bev and Eddie, in the living room of their small shared apartment. They were just sort of talking about whatever had come to mind. A new movie that was soon to release, a test that they had just taken in one of their many courses, or maybe even an odd dream that one of them had had.

That's one of the things Bill loved about his friends, was that he could talk to them about anything under the sun. Like that jackass, dark haired kid with the coke bottle glasses from one of Bill’s classes who frequently sang a song about ‘you and your johnson’, claiming it was actually from a boat commercial. Another favorite among the many annoying things he happened to do was talk about his ‘peanut butter ayds’, which was supposedly a weight loss candy. Of course, that's a story for another time, a tale for another day.

As they were sitting in their circle and just letting words fall out of their mouths, the conversation bouncing around back and forth, the attention soon turned to Bev as she started gushing about a man named Ben.

“He's so sweet, and kind! I can pretty much talk forever and he just sits there with this fond smile on his face and watches,” Bev went on, her cheeks lightly dusted with a rosy pink as her hands waved wildly. 

Bill wasn't exactly sure who Ben was to Beverly. She never mentioned a relationship with the fellow but with the way she talked about him she might as well be a lovesick girl in middle school all over again.

Beverly went on a little longer and then looked over to Eddie, lightly elbowing their shorter, tanner friend in the side. “So, Eddie, what about Mike? How's he?” 

Eddie flushed a cherry red, looking down in his lap and twiddling his thumbs for a moment before looking up again, “he’s very charming, but I kind of expected that, I guess. He’s patient, definitely. And he has this like, look in his eyes. I don't know how to explain it, exactly, it's like he's an old soul. It's cute.”

Bill looked to both Eddie and Beverly with confusion, “who’s Muh- Mike? And why haven't I he- heard about him before?” Bill wasn't exactly sure why Eddie had only told Bev about this person. He decided to assume there was some reason behind it, he must be really special if they felt they had to wait to tell him. 

"Oh, uh..." Eddie was the first to answer, he and Bev looking to each other with a certain look that seemed to read, 'where do we begin?'

Bill found it odd, as usually they always knew what to say. This time, however, they both seemed to be at a loss for words. It almost made the situation awkward, and he decided to take back his question. "You guys do- don't have to talk about it if y- you don't want to, I w- was just curious.”

Bill’s stutter had improved over the years, unfortunately for Bill it still lingered. However, his friends were kind about it. They never pushed him to finish a word or try to speak for him. Especially around new people, where his stutter worsened.

Bev and Eddie looked to each other a moment longer before Beverly spoke, “I don't think we’re allowed to talk about it. At least that's what somebody said to me when I first asked about it.”

Eddie nodded in agreement, “same here. We can get someone who can talk to you about it? But that's up to you, Billy.”,

Bill was quite intrigued. What could possibly be so secretive that his friends couldn't tell him about it? “Uh- um- yeah! Sh- sure. It seems in- interesting.”

Eddie and Bev both nodded looking again to each other before Beverly changed the topic. They talked to each other for hours, before Bev and Eddie both went back to their respective apartments.

-

A few weeks later, Bill had just run out to the store to pick a few things for his apartment. He was walking back to his apartment, letting the warmth of May fill his spirits. As he walked, he was tapped on the shoulder from behind. Bill turned around to face a tall, sort-of lanky gentleman who almost looked familiar. Could it be that kid from his literature class? 

No, it couldn't be. He wasn't wearing those thick, retro style glasses, for one. His usual thick, unruly mop of hair was nicely styled, and not nearly as frizzy. So who was this guy then, and what did he want from Bill?

“Hello there. Are you Bill Denbrough? Yes? I hope so. I'm Richard Tozier, or Richie depending on who you ask, charmed I'm sure. A little birdie told me you might be interested in a club I'm apart of.” The man, Richie, spoke before Bill could even ask what he needed. Richie's stance was filled with confidence and self-assurance. He talked and presented himself in such a way that Bill couldn't help but ask what he meant.

“Uh, y- yeah. I’m B- B- Bill. What is th- this club y- you s- sp- speak of?” Bill mentally curses at himself for stuttering, though he should be somewhat used to it by now. But there's something about this Richie character, Bill didn't want to stutter in front of him.

Richie said nothing about Bill’s stutter, this also proved he couldn't be that kid from lit as he would've said something. He spoke smoothly with a charming gleam in his eyes, though the words that came out of his mouth seemed a bit rehearsed. “You see, Bill, I come from a place we call Club Raven. There we take care of pretty boys like yourself and help them to relax. We give them a drink and an ear and help them forget about their cares for a while.”

Bill is handed a black business card with intricate silver details. He looks over the card before looking back at Richie, “s- s- sounds like fu- fun. D- do I just s- sh- show up?”

Richie nodded, flashing a charming smile, “yes, sir. Just walk right in and we'll get you set up.” He waved goodbye, then walking away. He turned back for a moment, blowing a kiss to Bill with a wink before disappearing behind a corner.

Bill stood there for a moment, frozen. He blinks himself back into reality, swallowing before continuing his walk back to his apartment.

-

“Still other mythology connects the anemone to magical fairies, who were believed to sleep under the petals after they closed at sunset. Perhaps it's because of this magical and prophetic tales that today in the language of flowers, anemones represent anticipation.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You and Your Johnson: https://youtu.be/fxVH5sKUlPg  
> Ayds Weight Loss Candy: https://youtu.be/yfFs0o6pCxc  
> Anemones: https://www.teleflora.com/meaning-of-flowers/anemone


End file.
